00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think it's been a great hearing. I appreciate the
00:03witnesses for being here, for your expertise, your professionalism. It is a
00:09really important issue, I think, that touches a lot of aspects in our
00:13country. People like college sports. They want to see it succeed. It's great to
00:18have two of South Carolina's finest higher institutions present from our
00:23football programs, but there is only one university, South Carolina, sir. Go Game
00:27Cox. And for the Californians in the room, USC stands for South Carolina and not
00:31Southern California. We were an institution before you were a state.
00:35That being said, that being said, the NCAA, I think the prior scheme, you had a
00:43very restrictive, not player-focused scheme that, you know, you went to
00:49school, you got a scholarship, there wasn't many other benefits that were
00:52afforded to you. Maybe not the correct legal protections, and of course we have
00:56seen that go the opposite way, right? And I think in some ways people welcome
01:02that, that players that are adults, they're 18 years old, are going and
01:06capitalizing on their talent, on their NIL, their name, image, and likeness. But
01:10there are some real concerns, right? And we've heard that. Last year I filed the
01:14Protect the Ball Act, right, which was a shield, if you will, for institutions. And
01:19the idea was that you wanted to give the breathing room between the NCAA, the
01:24colleges, the conferences, and the players to figure out the framework. But we
01:30have, as been alluded to, I think Ms. Houghton talked about it, a patchwork of
01:34state laws. You have states that are, Coach Beamer talked about competition, but you
01:38have state legislators that are invested in preserving and enhancing their state
01:43institutions. And so there are some dangers on the horizon on where we go
01:48from this when states are doing their own thing. And I think the big thing that
01:51we've talked about here seems to be a level of preemption that is needed, right?
01:56That you cannot have a patchwork of 50 state laws, that you have to have one
02:00standard. The framework may be being provided by Congress, but most of that
02:04effort being provided by the institutions themselves, the players, the
02:07families that are affected, the conferences, and of course the NCAA, that
02:12seems to be, I think, where we need to go, right? That this is a collaboration
02:16between those who are engaged in this space. It isn't a mandate, a top-down
02:21heavy mandate from Congress, but there are some framework that should
02:26be available to allow college sports to thrive, that focuses on the players, that
02:32focuses on the college athlete experience. And with that being said,
02:37Coach Beamer, obviously with that backdrop, how has NIL changed just
02:42recruiting in general? Football, but you've, I'm sure, heard stories from, you
02:46know, Dawns Daily or whomever. How has that changed the recruiting
02:50aspect of college athletics? Thank you for the question and thanks for all you
02:54do for the great state of South Carolina, Mr. Frye, and great to see you again as
03:00well. As you know, this is my third time to Washington, DC in the last couple
03:05years on this issue, so appreciate everyone being here today to listen to
03:11us as well. It's certainly changed things in regards to when you're recruiting a
03:16student-athlete, finding out what's important to them, and certainly name,
03:21image, and likeness is another aspect of that without a doubt. But we're
03:26really well situated at the University of South Carolina because of the things
03:31that we have to offer beyond NIL. As I mentioned, we're in the capital city and
03:35there's so many opportunities for our student-athletes at the University of
03:39South Carolina. And schools across the country should have advantages from a
03:46recruiting standpoint because they have great academics, which they do, we do, they
03:51have great coaches, which in all of our sports we do, great development, and not
03:56necessarily who pays the most. And that's what's happened in so many instances as
04:01well. It's still about the educational experience and on and off the field with
04:05everyone. For sure. Coach, do you think that a federal standard, I think you
04:10testified to this earlier, but do you think a federal standard would level the
04:13playing field in college athletics? Yes. And obviously you said that college
04:20sports should be more about money, it's about the education, it's about the
04:23experience. What guidance or structure would you, do you believe would help
04:27ensure that NIL remains a tool for empowerment rather than a distraction?
04:31Obviously with the settlement next month with revenue sharing, that's gonna help
04:37things. We'll have a real enforcement arm behind that is the way it's trending
04:42right now, which would be very beneficial for all coaches, all sports, and then as
04:47Mr. Whitman mentioned, a clearinghouse for any outside income beyond revenue
04:51share, which we are all for. And our student-athletes at South Carolina, as
04:56you know, Asia Wilson, a former women's basketball player, has a statue outside
05:01our basketball arena. So there's fantastic opportunities for all of our
05:04student-athletes with national legislation. Coach, finally, and I'll go
05:09over here just briefly, but, you know, I think collectively we talked about maybe
05:13some of the Olympic style sports. We've talked about some of the smaller schools
05:17and how they might be impacted. How do you see NIL affecting those Olympic-type
05:21sports and can Congress help to protect those types of sports for college
05:26athletes? Very quickly, please. Yes, sir. No, I would say this with the terms of the
05:30settlement, and I'm not a legal expert, I will defer to someone that is, but the
05:33way I understand it, Mr. Fry, with the terms of the settlement, all of our
05:37Olympic sports, there's an unintended consequence. There's going to be some
05:40roster spots that are cut, but all members of the Olympic sports, non-revenue
05:45sports going forward, will be on scholarship. So in so many ways,
05:49that has bettered their situation. Thank you, Mr. Beamer. The chair recognizes
05:53Representative Veazey for five minutes.
